Brian Bosma, walks the aisle after being introduced as Speaker of the House on the day of the start to the legislative session, Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018.(Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar)Buy Photo

Indiana House Republicans put the state’s teacher shortage front and center for their 2019 legislative agenda Monday with a strategy to increase educator salaries that leans on public school districts but stops short of committing new state money to easing the problem.

The proposal, which garnered measured praise from the state’s teachers union, comes amid limited state discretion for new spending, a challenge due in large part to lawmakers’ intentions to drastically increase funding for Indiana’s challenged Department of Child Services.

While other priorities include school safety and reform at DCS, House Speaker Brian Bosma focused on a series of bills aimed at addressing Indiana's education woes. They include the new goal for how much money school spend in the classroom, a one-year residency program for beginning teachers and a new grant program aimed at keeping veteran teachers in the classroom.

With a supermajority in the House, the Republican agenda is influential and generally guides the work in that chamber. Some form of these bills will likely pass.

The House Republicans agenda also includes plans to:

Implement a pilot program in the 13 ZIP codes with the highest infant mortality rate in order to reduce the problem's prevalence.

Exempt military pensions from the state income tax

Complete reforms to the Department of Child Services

Increase school safety

Continue focusing on workforce development.

Pass a balanced budget, which is already required in the state Constitution.

The announcement kicked off the start of the first full week of lawmaking this legislative session.

Teacher pay has been one of the most talked about issues leading up to the legislative session. Lawmakers say Indiana lags behind other states and is losing teachers to neighboring states like Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio.

Advocates say Indiana schools are experiencing unprecedented turnover, and schools report losing teachers midyear or having to rely on long-term substitute teachers. A lot of talk has given way to little detail, though. The proposal unveiled Monday is a suggestion for schools to send more money to the classroom, and teachers wallets, but includes no requirement to do so.

The goal is 85 percent of operational dollars spent in the classroom, which includes teacher pay, textbooks, etc., with just 15 percent used for administrative costs like central office staff. Bosma said some schools are already doing this, while others fall short.

"If we can increase the average that goes from these funds statewide by 5 percent to teachers, it ends up increasing statewide teacher pay by $350 million," Bosma said.

There are around 70,000 teachers in the state.

There is also no sign that schools will get more money to increase pay for their teachers. Bosma said there will be new money in the budget for schools but wouldn't say if that figure would grow beyond what's needed to keep up with inflation. Lawmakers have warned that this will be an incredibly tight budget year, with most new revenues already earmarked for the troubled Department of Child Services.

Bosma said lawmakers plan to give DCS the $286 million a year in additional money the department has requested. If lawmakers honor that request, they would have $35.3 million to spend on other priorities in 2020 and would be in the red by $23.1 million in 2021, unless other cuts are made.

That leaves little room for K-12 education funding increases.

House Republicans worked with the state's teachers union and several education advocacy groups to help craft their three-pronged approach to raising teacher pay. They all said these bills are at least a good place to start.

"We still want an increase in teacher compensation," said Teresa Meredith, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association. "I think these bills provide some part of that, but there's still work to do."

In reality, it may still be several years before some teachers see a meaningful raise. Nothing proposed so far would require schools to raise pay, and some may have trouble doing so without new money. Meredith said the two proposed grant programs are another way districts could raise pay for at least some of their teachers.

Some are saying this isn't enough. The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, which also announced its agenda Monday, is pushing for a 5 percent increase in teacher pay over the next two years. Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, is carrying that bill.

"In Indiana, compared to other Midwestern states, we are lagging behind in terms of how we pay our teachers," he said. "I think it's essential, collective as a General Assembly, (we) figure out a way to address this pay crisis for our teachers in Indiana."

The House Republicans will also focus on school safety, with a bill to make the state's safety grants more accessible, and a bill has been filed that would make the state superintendent of public instruction a governor-appointed position beginning in 2021, rather than 2025.

“Republicans continue to talk about the same things: Maintaining an honestly balanced budget … as if our state Constitution doesn’t now require it. Education funding, … which usually means more experimentation with the education-for-profit industry,” GiaQuinta said. “Workforce development, … which generally leads to additional tax credits for large corporations.”

“Will any of this help Hoosiers? As we have seen in recent years, those who are in charge find it better to talk about such things, instead of working to find pragmatic solutions to real issues.”

Notably, hate crimes legislation was not included in the House Republicans’ agenda.